TARIS Bio Initiates New Clinical Study of TAR-302 in Overactive Bladder

TARIS Bio^™, a biopharmaceutical company developing transformational therapies to treat people with debilitating urological disorders, announced today the initiation of a new clinical investigation of TAR-302 for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB). As a new follow-on arm of the company’s previously concluded Phase 1b trial, the study is designed to investigate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of a single 12-week dose of the system, doubling the previous treatment experience and representing a duration that better meets the real-world needs of patients with this serious and chronic disease. Read more.

Source: Yahoo! Finance, May 1, 2019

First Big Test Approaches for Urovant

Investors who backed Urovant’s $140m flotation last September will soon find out whether the money was well spent. Before the end of March the company will release topline pivotal data on the overactive bladder project vibegron, a β3-adrenergic receptor agonist licensed from Merck & Co, and a positive result should allow regulatory filings to follow. It seems likely that the trial will hit: Merck successfully conducted a large phase IIb study of vibegron a few years ago, and a similar compound is already on the market in the shape of Myrbetriq, which has been sold by Astellas since 2011. This well-established product has only four years of US patent life left, so if Urovant has any chance of building vibegron into a similarly large product it needs to prove that its contender is both safer and more effective. Read more.

Source: Evaluate, March 12, 2019

Axonics Sacral Neuromodulation for Urinary and Fecal Dysfunctions Cleared for MRI in Europe

Axonics, based in Irvine, California, won European regulatory approval for MRI conditional labeling for its sacral neuromodulation (SNM) system for treatment of overactive bladder, urinary retention, and fecal incontinence. The Axonics SNM system is now compatible, given certain precautions, with 1.5 Tesla and 3 Tesla MRI scanners. It is the only SNM system cleared in Europe with such labeling. The implant is rechargeable, and so can be used for much longer periods than similar devices that have to be replaced with fresh batteries. The company promises a lifetime of up to 15 years, Axionics claims is three times longer than Medtronic’s InterStim. Additionally, it’s 60% smaller. Read more.

Source: Medgadget, February 26, 2019

Tiny, Implantable Device Uses Light to Treat Bladder Problems

A team of neuroscientists and engineers has developed a tiny, implantable device that has potential to help people with bladder problems bypass the need for medication or electronic stimulators. The team—from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago—created a soft, implantable device that can detect overactivity in the bladder and then use light from tiny, biointegrated LEDs to tamp down the urge to urinate. The device works in laboratory rats and one day may help people who suffer incontinence or frequently feel the need to urinate. The new strategy is outlined in an article published Jan. 2 in the journal Nature. Read more.

Source: Medical Xpress, January 2, 2019

Nocturia, Overactive Bladder Improved With PTNS

Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) improves overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms and decreases the number of nocturia episodes in patients who do not respond well to medication therapy, new study findings suggest. In a retrospective study of 183 female patients (mean age 74 years; 83% white) treated at a urogynecology center, 12 weeks of PTNS (30 minutes per week) reduced voiding frequency by 1 hour, nocturia episodes by 0.8, and urge incontinence by 10 episodes per week, Shilpa Iyer, MD, of the University of Chicago, and colleagues reported in International Urogynecology Journal. Previously, patients voided every 1.6 hours, awoke 2 to 3 times nightly to void, and averaged 3 urge incontinence episodes daily. Read more.

Source: Renal & Urology News, December 12, 2018

The Journal of Urology Publishes Valencia’s Excellent Feasibility Data on eCoin™ for Overactive Bladder

Last week, The Journal of Urology published the feasibility data of Valencia Technologies’ (“Valencia“) eCoin™ device indicated for treatment of overactive bladder. The manuscript, “Feasibility of a fully-implanted, nickel-sized and shaped tibial nerve stimulator for the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome with urgency urinary incontinence,” details the design of Valencia’s 46 patient study and the study’s excellent clinical results. The manuscript has an embargo date of February 15, 2019. Implanted in a 20-minute office procedure across seven clinical centers in the United States and New Zealand, the coin-sized and shaped tibial nerve stimulator is distinctly simple to implant in stark contrast to a highly invasive and operator dependent therapy called sacral nerve stimulation. An author of the eCoin™ publication, Dr. Vincent Lucente, concludes, “I believe tibial nerve stimulation with eCoin™ will become the therapy of choice for patients after medications are tried. These early results clearly show a better therapy is on the horizon for patients with urinary incontinence.” Read more.

Source: PRNewswire, November 1, 2018

Kyorin Receives Approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for Vibegron for Overactive Bladder

Urovant Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for urologic conditions, today announced that Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Kyorin) received marketing approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for vibegron for the treatment of adults with overactive bladder (OAB) in Japan. Kyorin licensed vibegron for Japan from Merck & Co., Inc. in 2014, and later expanded the license to include certain other Asian countries in 2017. Urovant licensed rights to vibegron for the United States and the rest of the world from Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. in 2017 and subsequently entered into a collaboration agreement with Kyorin later that year. Under the collaboration agreement, Urovant and Kyorin share information related to the development of vibegron, including clinical trial and nonclinical study data. Read more.

Source: The News, October 1, 2018

elderly underactive bladder symptoms needed to be reported

Mirabegron Safe, Effective for Overactive Bladder in the Elderly

Mirabegron is a safe and effective treatment for overactive bladder (OAB) in older patients, a researcher reported at the International Continence Society’s 2018 annual meeting. Adrian Wagg, MB, BS, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, presented findings from a 12-week phase 4 prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled 888 patients older than 65 years who had OAB symptoms for 3 months or more. The mean age of the patients was about 72 years. The proportion of patients older than 75 years was 28% among mirabegron and placebo recipients. Read more.

Source: Renal and Urology News, August 31, 2018

TARIS Announces Positive Topline Data for TAR-302 in Patients with Idiopathic Overactive Bladder

TARIS, a biopharmaceutical company developing transformational therapies to treat people with debilitating urological disorders, today announced positive preliminary safety and efficacy data from its clinical study of TAR-302 for the treatment of patients with idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB) refractory to oral therapy. Subjects in the Phase 1b study received a single TAR-302 system, which provides continuous local dosing of the approved antimuscarinic agent trospium into the bladder. Subjects who were experiencing an average of more than five daily urge incontinence episodes demonstrated a reduction in mean daily episodes of 75% following dosing for 42 days (p=0.0049). Based on the unmet need in this disease state and the efficacy demonstrated in this study on established endpoints, TARIS plans to rapidly advance this program into later stage trials. “The results of this study suggest TAR-302 may come to represent an innovative new approach to treating overactive bladder,” said Michael J. Kennelly, M.D., FACS, Professor of Urology at Carolinas Medical Center, Medical Director of the Charlotte Continence Center and Women’s Center of Pelvic Heath, and Principal Investigator of the TAR-302 clinical studies. “There is a substantial need for alternative options in the management of OAB when patients fail oral therapies. The compelling efficacy observed to date with TAR-302, in the absence of side-effects, represents a potentially significant advance in the development of improved therapies for these patients.” Read more.

Source: PRNewswire, August 28, 2018

URO-1’s Repris System for Injecting Botox Into Bladder

URO-1, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, got FDA approval for its Repris Bladder Injection System. The product is designed for delivering Botox injections into the bladder as a treatment option for overactive bladder. The device, which is supposed to make such procedures easier on the physicians and more comfortable on the patients, will be unveiled at the American Urological Association in San Francisco later this month. Read more.

Source: Medgadget, May 9, 20218